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Former NFL first-round pick Middlebrooks kick-starting career with Argos |
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Written by Dan Ralph, THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
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Willie Middlebrooks can now allow himself the luxury of thinking about fishing.
The Toronto Argonauts cornerback is a diehard angler and indulges in both freshwater and saltwater fishing in his native Miami. When Middlebrooks signed with the Argos in the off-season, he was very well aware of the great fishing available in Ontario but didn't arrive at training camp in May with any rods or tackle because his first priority was making the CFL team's roster.
The former University of Minnesota star not only did that, he's the lone new starter on an Argos defence that last year was the CFL's best. And for the first time since arriving in Canada, Middlebrooks can actually look forward to wetting a line sometime soon.
"That will be good," Middlebrooks said. "I've heard you've got some good fishing here.
"But I think I'll have to make a trip to a fishing store and maybe buy some stuff first."
The six-foot-two, 196-pound Middlebrooks has done a lot of bass and panfish fishing in Florida as well as in saltwater for such species as dolfin and snapper. But he has not had the opportunity of tangling with chinook salmon or rainbow and lake trout, all prevalent species in Lake Ontario. And other popular species like musky, northern pike, walleye and smallmouth bass are all well within driving distance from Toronto.
However, Middlebrooks' top priority is returning to Toronto's starting lineup. He began the season in the secondary in the Argos' 23-16 road win over Winnipeg and was named the CFL's defensive player of the week after registering nine tackles and an interception. But he missed last week's 32-13 home loss to Hamilton with a foot injury, a game that featured Tiger-Cats tailback Jesse Lumsden accounting for 189 of the club's 311 yards rushing. Middlebrooks is expected to miss Thursday's game in Edmonton as a result of the ailment.
Middlebrooks is just thankful to still be playing. And while he believes football is football, he admits having to make adjustments to his game in the pass-happy CFL on the longer, wide Canadian field.
"You make brief reminders to yourself about where you are on the field," Middlebrooks said. "A lot of times you might look at the hash mark and say, 'In the NFL when I got the hash I knew where the sideline was and that my free safety wasn't too far away.'
"Then I look up and Stein (Argos safety Orlondo Steinauer) is all the way on the other hash so I have to adjust and play a little bit differently. It's just knowing where your landmarks are."
Middlebrooks, 29, was selected in the first round of the 2001 NFL draft by Denver, spending four seasons there before being dealt to San Francisco in 2005. He appeared in five games with the 49ers before being released. He re-signed with the Broncos in "06 but was cut Aug. 30.
"I've had a lot of injuries throughout my career," Middlebrooks said. "For a while I was just frustrated with being injured a bunch and kind of thought about not playing football.
"But then I really missed it and am excited to be back out here playing again."
Unfortunately for Middlebrooks, he also had some legal issues to overcome. He was arrested on New Year's Eve 2004 for domestic violence after allegedly fighting his girlfriend. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanour assault and received an 18-month deferred jail sentence and ordered to complete nine months of domestic violence classes.
Middlebrooks said he learned a valuable life lesson as a result of the incident and believes it damaged his reputation in the NFL.
"I think it did," he said. "That was a big, big deal for me.
"I don't think that was the true me because I had never been in trouble before in my life and I grew up in the roughest parts of south Florida. You learn from it and move on. My advice to younger guys is if there's something you don't want to do say no. It was a costly, costly lesson for me that I learned a lot from."
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QB WOES - The Saskatchewan Roughriders are 2-0 but rookie head coach Ken Miller has some injury woes to deal with.
Quarterback Marcus Crandell suffered a hamstring injury in last week's 26-16 win over B.C. and won't play in Saturday's road game against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. So youngster Darian Durant, the club's No. 3 quarterback, is expected to start against the Ticats after backup Steven Jyles threw two picks against B.C.
The Riders also lost receiver D.J. Flick (broken ankle) and cornerback Leron Mitchell (broken leg) in the game against the Lions. On Monday, Saskatchewan acquired receiver T.J Acree from Toronto in a deal for defensive end Ron Flemons.
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ACKLES MEMORIAL - A private memorial involving just family and close friends will be held Saturday for former B.C. Lions president Bob Ackles.
Ackles died Sunday of a heart attack. He was 69.
The Lions will hold a public tribute in memory of Ackles during halftime of their game Friday against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
Ackles' family has also requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the British Columbia Football Hall of Fame, a project that Ackles had started prior to his death. Donations can be forwarded to the Lions' business operations office (765 Pacific Boulevard, Vancouver, V6B 4Y9).
It says here that the classy, always accommodating Ackles will be dearly missed. Not only does the Lions front office have a big hole to fill, so too does Canadian football for Ackles was its biggest fan and its biggest defender.
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COOL AC - Anthony Calvillo's return to the Montreal Alouettes has certainly been a triumphant one.
Calvillo, 35, who left the team late last season when his wife was diagnosed with a form of cancer, has led the upstart Alouettes to a 2-0 record to kick off the '08 campaign. And he's done it in style.
Calvillo has completed 59-of-81 passes (72.8 per cent) for 665 yards with six touchdowns against just one interception. He's second to Edmonton's Ricky Ray (697 yards) in CFL passing but leads in pass attempts, completions and TD passes.
More importantly, Calvillo's wife and family were in the stands last week to watch him lead Montreal to a 38-24 home win over Winnipeg.
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THIS 'N THAT - Winnipeg slotback Milt Stegall is expected to suit up this week against the Lions after missing the first two games recovering from off-season knee surgery. Stegall needs just 197 yards to break Allen Pitts' all-time CFL receiving yards record . . . The Toronto Argonauts will wait until an hour prior to their game versus Edmonton on Thursday to determine the status of receiver Bethel Johnson (sprained ankle) . . . After rushing for 189 yards against Toronto last week, Hamilton's Jesse Lumsden is tops in the CFL with 225 yards. Granted, there's a long way to go, but the last Canadian to lead the CFL in rushing was Ottawa's Orville Lee, who ran for 1,075 yards in '88.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 September 2008 )
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